July 8
Events *1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch. *1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese fleet defeats an Angevin fleet sent to put down a rebellion on Malta. *1497 – Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India. *1579 – Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, is discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan. *1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu. *1663 – Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island. *1709 – Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava, thus effectively ending Sweden's status as a major power in Europe. *1716 – The Battle of Dynekilen forces Sweden to abandon its invasion of Norway. *1730 – An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than of Chile's coastline. *1758 – French forces hold Fort Carillon against the British at Ticonderoga, New York. *1760 – British forces defeat French forces in the last naval battle in New France. *1775 – The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies of North America. *1776 – Church bells (possibly including the Liberty Bell) are rung after John Nixon delivers the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. *1808 – Joseph Bonaparte approves the Bayonne Statute, a royal charter intended as the basis for his rule as king of Spain. *1822 – Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom. *1853 – The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade. *1859 – King Charles XV & IV accedes to the throne of Sweden–Norway. *1864 – Ikedaya Incident: The Choshu Han shishi's planned Shinsengumi sabotage on Kyoto, Japan at Ikedaya. *1874 – The Mounties begin their March West. *1876 – White supremacists kill five Black Republicans in Hamburg, South Carolina. *1879 – Sailing ship departs San Francisco carrying an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole. *1889 – The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published. *1892 – St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892. *1898 – The death of crime boss Soapy Smith, killed in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, releases Skagway, Alaska from his iron grip. *1912 – Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro leads an unsuccessful royalist attack against the First Portuguese Republic in Chaves. *1932 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22. *1933 – The first rugby union test match between the Wallabies of Australia and the Springboks of South Africa is played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. *1937 – Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad. *1947 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico in what became known as the Roswell UFO incident. *1948 – The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF). *1960 – Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union. *1962 – Ne Win besieges and dynamites the Rangoon University Student Union building to crush the Student Movement. *1966 – King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi. *1968 – The Chrysler wildcat strike begins in Detroit, Michigan. *1970 – Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American self-determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975. *1972 – Israeli Mossad assassinate Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani. *1980 – The inaugural 1980 State of Origin game is won by Queensland who defeat New South Wales 20-10 at Lang Park. *1982 – Assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Dujail. *1988 – The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on the Peruman bridge and falls into Ashtamudi Lake, killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more. *1994 – Kim Jong-il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il-sung. *2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program. *2014 – Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers. ▪ 8 july 2016 -kashmiri Young mujahid Burhan muzaffar wani achieved Martyrdom. Births *1478 – Gian Giorgio Trissino, Italian linguist, poet, and playwright (d. 1550) *1528 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (d. 1580) *1538 – Alberto Bolognetti, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1585) *1545 – Carlos, Prince of Asturias (d. 1568) *1593 – Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1653) * 1593 – Peter Sainthill, English politician (d. 1648) *1621 – Jean de La Fontaine, French author and poet (d. 1695) * 1621 – Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, Danish countess (d. 1698) *1640 – Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester, son of Charles I (d. 1660) *1760 – Christian Kramp, French mathematician and academic (d. 1826) *1766 – Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (d. 1842) *1792 – Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen (d. 1854) *1819 – Francis Leopold McClintock, Irish admiral and explorer (d. 1907) *1830 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg (d. 1911) * 1830 – Frederick W. Seward, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1915) *1831 – John Pemberton, American chemist and pharmacist, invented Coca-Cola (d. 1888) *1836 – Joseph Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1914) *1838 – Eli Lilly, American soldier, chemist, and businessman, founded Eli Lilly and Company (d. 1898) * 1838 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Airship Company (d. 1917) *1839 – John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company (d. 1937) *1851 – Arthur Evans, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1941) * 1851 – John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (d. 1916) *1857 – Alfred Binet, French psychologist and graphologist (d. 1911) *1867 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (d. 1945) *1876 – Alexandros Papanastasiou, Greek sociologist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936) *1882 – Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (d. 1961) *1885 – Ernst Bloch, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1977) * 1885 – Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (d. 1948) *1890 – Stanton Macdonald-Wright, American painter (d. 1973) *1892 – Richard Aldington, English author and poet (d. 1962) * 1892 – Pavel Korin, Russian painter (d. 1967) *1893 – R. Carlyle Buley, American historian and author (d. 1968) *1894 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984) *1895 – Igor Tamm, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971) *1898 – Melville Ruick, American actor (d. 1972) *1900 – George Antheil, American pianist, composer, and author (d. 1959) *1904 – Henri Cartan, French mathematician and academic (d. 2008) *1905 – Leonid Amalrik, Russian animator and director (d. 1997) *1906 – Philip Johnson, American architect, designed the IDS Center and PPG Place (d. 2005) *1907 – George W. Romney, American businessman and politician, 43rd Governor of Michigan (d. 1995) *1908 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and actor (d. 1975) * 1908 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (d. 1979) *1909 – Alan Brown, English soldier (d. 1971) *1911 – Ken Farnes, English cricketer (d. 1941) *1913 – Paulus and Pierre Langerock, Belgian centenarians *1914 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 2010) * 1914 – Billy Eckstine, American singer and trumpet player (d. 1993) *1915 – Neil D. Van Sickle, American Air Force major general *1916 – Jean Rouverol, American author, actress and screenwriter (d. 2017) *1917 – Pamela Brown, English actress (d. 1975) * 1917 – Faye Emerson, American actress (d. 1983) * 1917 – J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1999) *1918 – Paul B. Fay, American businessman, soldier, and diplomat, 12th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2009) * 1918 – Irwin Hasen, American illustrator (d. 2015) * 1918 – Edward B. Giller, U.S Major General * 1918 – Craig Stevens, American actor (d. 2000) *1919 – Walter Scheel, German soldier and politician, 4th President of West Germany (d. 2016) *1920 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (d. 1995) *1922 – Eugenio Martínez, alias Musculito, current real estate agent who was a member of the anti-Castro movement in the early 1960s *1923 – Harrison Dillard, American sprinter and hurdler *1924 – Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and songwriter (d. 2005) * 1924 – Charles C. Droz, American politician *1925 – Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (d. 2014) * 1925 – Arthur Imperatore Sr., Italian-American businessman from New Jersey * 1925 – Bill Mackrides, American football quarterback * 1925 – Dominique Nohain, French actor, screenwriter and director (d. 2017) *1926 – David Malet Armstrong, Australian philosopher and author (d. 2014) * 1926 – John Dingell, American lieutenant and politician * 1926 – Martin Riesen, Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender * 1926 – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist and author (d. 2004) *1927 – Maurice Hayes, Irish educator and politician * 1927 – Lisa Lu, Chinese-born American actress and singer * 1927 – Khensur Lungri Namgyel, Tibetan religious leader *1928 – Balakh Sher Mazari, former Prime Minister of Pakistan * 1928 – Pat Adams, American painter and printmaker *1929 – Milena Greppi, Italian hurdler *1930 – Jerry Vale, American singer (d. 2014) * 1930 – Chris Adams, American author and retired United States Air Force officer *1931 – Zach Monroe, American baseball player *1932 – Franca Raimondi, Italian singer (d. 1988) *1933 – Antonio Lamer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 2007) *1934 – Raquel Correa, Chilean journalist (d. 2012) * 1934 – Marty Feldman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1982) *1935 – John David Crow, American football player and coach (d. 2015) * 1935 – Steve Lawrence, American actor and singer * 1935 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2010) *1938 – Diane Clare, English actress (d. 2013) *1939 – Ed Lumley, Canadian businessman and politician, 8th Canadian Minister of Communications *1940 – Joe B. Mauldin, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2015) *1941 – Dario Gradi, Italian-English footballer, coach, and manager *1942 – Phil Gramm, American economist and politician *1944 – Jaimoe, American drummer * 1944 – Jeffrey Tambor, American actor and singer *1945 – Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss politician, 91st President of the Swiss Confederation *1947 – Kim Darby, American actress * 1947 – Jenny Diski, English author and screenwriter (d. 2016) * 1947 – Luis Fernando Figari, Peruvian religious leader, founded the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae *1948 – Raffi, Egyptian-Canadian singer-songwriter *1949 – Wolfgang Puck, Austrian-American chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur * 1949 – Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 2009) *1951 – Alan Ashby, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster * 1951 – Anjelica Huston, American actress and director *1952 – Larry Garner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist * 1952 – Jack Lambert, American football player and sportscaster * 1952 – Marianne Williamson, American author and activist *1956 – Terry Puhl, Canadian baseball player and coach *1957 – Carlos Cavazo, Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter * 1957 – Aleksandr Gurnov, Russian journalist and author *1958 – Kevin Bacon, American actor and musician * 1958 – Andreas Carlgren, Swedish educator and politician, 8th Swedish Minister for the Environment * 1958 – Tzipi Livni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 18th Justice Minister of Israel *1959 – Billy Kimball, American screenwriter and producer * 1959 – Pauline Quirke, English actress and screenwriter *1960 – Mal Meninga, Australian rugby league player and coach *1961 – Ces Drilon, Filipino journalist * 1961 – Andrew Fletcher, English keyboard player * 1961 – Toby Keith, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor * 1961 – Karl Seglem, Norwegian saxophonist and record producer *1962 – Joan Osborne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist *1963 – Mark Christopher, American director and screenwriter *1964 – Alexei Gusarov, Russian ice hockey player and manager *1965 – Dan Levinson, American clarinet player, saxophonist, and bandleader *1966 – Ralf Altmeyer, German-Chinese virologist and academic * 1966 – Shadlog Bernicke, Nauruan politician * 1966 – Mike Nawrocki, American voice actor, animator, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded Big Idea Entertainment *1968 – Billy Crudup, American actor * 1968 – Thom Fitzgerald, American-Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter * 1968 – Shane Howarth, New Zealand rugby player and coach * 1968 – Michael Weatherly, American actor *1969 – Sugizo, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer * 1969 – George Fisher, American singer-songwriter *1970 – Beck, American singer-songwriter and producer * 1970 – Sylvain Gaudreault, Canadian educator and politician * 1970 – Todd Martin, American tennis player and coach *1971 – Neil Jenkins, Welsh rugby player and coach *1972 – Karl Dykhuis, Canadian ice hockey player * 1972 – Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer and sportscaster *1973 – Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress and producer *1975 – Elias Viljanen, Finnish singer and guitarist *1976 – Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer * 1976 – David Kennedy, American guitarist and songwriter * 1976 – Ellen MacArthur, English sailor * 1976 – Grettell Valdéz, Mexican actress *1977 – Christian Abbiati, Italian footballer * 1977 – Paolo Tiralongo, Italian cyclist * 1977 – Milo Ventimiglia, American actor, director, and producer * 1977 – Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player *1978 – Rachael Lillis, American voice actress * 1978 – Urmas Rooba, Estonian footballer *1979 – Mat McBriar, American football player *1980 – Eric Chouinard, American-Canadian ice hockey player * 1980 – Robbie Keane, Irish footballer *1981 – Wolfram Müller, German runner * 1981 – Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player *1982 – Sophia Bush, American actress and director * 1982 – Pendleton Ward, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor * 1982 – Hakim Warrick, American basketball player *1983 – John Bowker, American baseball player * 1983 – Jaroslav Janiš, Czech race car driver * 1983 – Daniel Navarro, Spanish cyclist * 1983 – Rich Peverley, Canadian ice hockey player *1985 – Jamie Cook, English guitarist and songwriter *1986 – Jaime Garcia, Mexican baseball player * 1986 – Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer * 1986 – Paul Flynn, Irish Gaelic footballer * 1986 – Chloe Wang，Taiwanese actress *1988 – Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (d. 2012) * 1988 – Jesse Sergent, New Zealand cyclist * 1988 – Dave Taylor, Australian rugby league player *1989 – Yarden Gerbi, Israeli world champion and Olympic bronze medalist judoka * 1989 – Tor Marius Gromstad, Norwegian footballer (d. 2012) *1991 – Virgil van Dijk, Dutch footballer *1992 – Sky Ferreira, American singer-songwriter and actress * 1992 – Son Heung-min, South Korean footballer * 1992 – Benjamin Grosvenor, English pianist *1996 – Braidon Burns, Australian rugby league player Deaths * 689 – Kilian, Irish bishop * 810 – Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne (b. 773) * 873 – Gunther, archbishop of Cologne * 901 – Grimbald, French-English monk and saint (b. 827) * 975 – Edgar the Peaceful, English king (b. 943) *1153 – Pope Eugene III (b. 1087) *1253 – Theobald I of Navarre (b. 1201) *1261 – Adolf IV of Holstein, Count of Schauenburg *1422 – Michelle of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France (b. 1395) *1538 – Diego de Almagro, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1475) *1390 – Albert of Saxony, Bishop of Halberstadt and German philosopher (b. circa 1320) *1623 – Pope Gregory XV (b. 1554) *1689 – Edward Wooster, English-American settler (b. 1622) *1695 – Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1629) *1716 – Robert South, English preacher and theologian (b. 1634) *1721 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1649) *1726 – John Ker, Scottish spy (b. 1673) *1784 – Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (b. 1735) *1794 – Richard Mique, French architect (b. 1728) *1822 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (b. 1792) *1850 – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774) *1859 – Oscar I of Sweden (b. 1799) *1873 – Franz Xaver Winterhalter, German painter and lithographer (b. 1805) *1887 – Ben Holladay, American businessman (b. 1819) *1895 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian chemist and physicist (b. 1821) *1905 – Walter Kittredge, American violinist and composer (b. 1834) *1913 – Louis Hémon, French-Canadian author (b. 1880) *1917 – Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877) *1930 – Joseph Ward, Australian-New Zealand businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1856) *1933 – Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (b. 1863) *1934 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (b. 1848) *1939 – Havelock Ellis, English psychologist and author (b. 1859) *1941 – Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, historian, and politician (b. 1874) *1942 – Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, Algerian-French general (b. 1856) * 1942 – Refik Saydam, Turkish physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1881) *1943 – Jean Moulin, French soldier (b. 1899) *1950 – Othmar Spann, Austrian sociologist, economist, and philosopher (b. 1878) *1952 – August Alle, Estonian lawyer, author, and poet (b. 1890) *1956 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and critic (b. 1881) *1965 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (b. 1881) *1968 – Désiré Mérchez, French swimmer and water polo player (b. 1882) *1971 – Kurt Reidemeister, German mathematician connected to the Vienna Circle (b. 1893) * 1971 – Charlie Shavers, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1920) *1972 – Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian writer and politician (b. 1936) *1973 – Gene L. Coon, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1924) * 1973 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Education Minister of Israel (b. 1884) * 1973 – Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer and coach (b. 1877) *1979 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906) * 1979 – Michael Wilding, English actor (b. 1912) * 1979 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917) *1981 – Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (b. 1902) *1985 – Phil Foster, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1913) * 1985 – Jean-Paul Le Chanois, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1909) *1986 – Skeeter Webb, American baseball player and manager (b. 1909) *1987 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (b. 1903) * 1987 – Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet and author (b. 1896) *1988 – Ray Barbuti, American runner and football player (b. 1905) *1990 – Howard Duff, American actor (b. 1913) *1991 – James Franciscus, American actor (b. 1934) *1994 – Christian-Jaque, French director and screenwriter (b. 1904) * 1994 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (b. 1912) * 1994 – Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (b. 1927) * 1994 – Dick Sargent, American actor (b. 1930) *1995 – Aleksander Arulaid, Estonian chess player (b. 1924) *1996 – Irene Prador, Austrian-born actress and writer (b. 1911) *1999 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930) *2001 – John O'Shea, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1920) *2002 – Ward Kimball, American animator and trombonist (b. 1914) *2004 – Paula Danziger, American author and educator (b. 1944) *2005 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (b. 1911) *2006 – June Allyson, American actress and singer (b. 1917) *2007 – Chandra Shekhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of India (b. 1927) * 2007 – Jack B. Sowards, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1929) *2008 – John Templeton, American-born British businessman and philanthropist (b. 1912) *2009 – Midnight, American singer-songwriter (b. 1962) *2011 – Roberts Blossom, American actor and poet (b. 1924) * 2011 – Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States (b. 1918) *2012 – Muhammed bin Saud Al Saud, Saudi Arabian politician (b. 1934) * 2012 – Lionel Batiste, American singer and drummer (b. 1931) * 2012 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (b. 1917) * 2012 – Gyang Dalyop Datong, Nigerian physician and politician (b. 1959) * 2012 – Martin Pakledinaz, American costume designer (b. 1953) *2013 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (b. 1931) * 2013 – Dave Hickson, English footballer and manager (b. 1929) * 2013 – Edmund Morgan, American historian and author (b. 1916) * 2013 – Claudiney Ramos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1980) * 2013 – Rubby Sherr, American physicist and academic (b. 1913) * 2013 – Sundri Uttamchandani, Indian author (b. 1924) * 2013 – Brett Walker, American songwriter and producer (b. 1961) *2014 – Plínio de Arruda Sampaio, Brazilian lawyer and politician (b. 1930) * 2014 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (b. 1925) * 2014 – Ben Pangelinan, Guamanian businessman and politician (b. 1956) * 2014 – Howard Siler, American bobsledder and coach (b. 1945) * 2014 – Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (b. 1953) *2015 – Irwin Keyes, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1952) * 2015 – Paul J. Lioy, American scientist and academic (b. 1947) * 2015 – Ernie Maresca, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938) * 2015 – Ken Stabler, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1945) * 2015 – James Tate, American poet (b. 1943) *2016 – Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist (b. 1928) Holidays and observances * Christian Feast Day: ** Abda and Sabas ** Auspicius of Trier ** Grimbald ** Kilian, Totnan, and Colman ** Peter and Fevronia Day (Russian Orthodox) ** Procopius of Scythopolis ** Sunniva and companions ** Theobald of Marly ** July 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) *Air Force and Air Defense Forces Day (Ukraine) External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada Category:Days of the year Category:July